Learning in Public by Courtney E. Martin

LEARNING IN PUBLIC by Courtney E. Martin is a truly thought-provoking book touching on educational opportunities and the values that we espouse as a community and as individuals. She says, “in theory we value diversity, and in practice, we value whiteness.” Martin, who has written several other books related to social justice, profiles her own family’s difficult decision when selecting an elementary school for her daughter, Maya. Living in Oakland, California, they could opt for their local elementary school – with poor ratings and mostly Black and Brown students – or they could choose more highly rated and better resourced public schools or even an expensive private option. Martin quotes frequently from studies on education and from writers such as Eve Ewing (Ghosts in the Schoolyard) or Nikole Hannah-Jones. Although the text can feel stilted in places, she does not shy away from calling out the difficult racial undertones: “I am reading a handbook written in the invisible ink of obfuscation and maneuvering so that I might get my already deeply advantaged White kid into the best possible school, while kids with less White, less rich, less available parents are not.”  

With blurbs from Eric Liu (You’re More Powerful than You Think) and Noliwe Rooks (Cutting School), LEARNING IN PUBLIC is an important update that will hopefully prompt much needed reflection. Sadly, it is hard to believe it has been over 10 years (almost an entire K-12 school “career” for students) since the release of documentaries on education like: Waiting for “Superman” and Race to Nowhere (Abeles also released Beyond Measure in 2015). As Martin aptly notes, “Elite parenting is a process of piecing together the unwritten rules about how to advance your child through a broken system. The system itself is rarely considered.”

LEARNING IN PUBLIC would make an amazing book group choice and includes suggested questions for discussion or reflection as well as a few pages of notes and list of resources (books, podcasts, organizations) for learning more.